How breath meditation (pranayama) delivers multiple benefits

Most who practise pranayama are shocked at how time seems to vanish. As if by magic, half an hour, or an hour, just seems to slip by. Then it’s time to finish, get up and go about your daily life (feeling much better as a result of the pranayama). So if you’re looking for “pranayama yoga classes near me”, then try it with Flametree’s free “pranayama classes near me” package at the orange link below. But first, if you want, read on to see how breath meditation, or pranayama, explores changes in consciousness, & much more. Before you go though, grab the free pranayama classes online, (or in-studio if it suits you), for the best pranayama online training you’ll find. Read on to see why.

Lets get back to how time vanishes when you’re doing pranayama. It is, of course, anything but magic.

Recent studies into the effects of pranayama confirm that the ancient yogis had indeed discovered a radical way to alter consciousness.

The ancient yogis were interested to explore the changes in consciousness (mind) that result from altering the breath.

Breath meditation video course, & 10 FREE pranayama classes. See more.

Breath is energy

They were interested in looking at how energy could be shifted up along the spinal column to the brain and what effect that would have in terms of changing the chemical composition of the brain.

It is truly amazing what the ancients knew and understood about the link between the body, the breath and the mind.  It is even more astounding when you realise that western science is only now coming to understand the relationship between the body breath and mind.

For the ancients the breath is the vehicle to link the body with the mind. They found a way to shift energy from the abdomen, via the diaphragm, to create a vacuum that could pull air up and along the spine to the brain.

Each day when I practice a variety of different pranayama techniques, I am in awe at how each technique offers us a way to bring energy to both the brain and the rest of the body.

Bumble bee breath

Take for example Bhramari ( Bumble bee breath meditation). This practice involves extending your exhalation while making an audible sound like a bumble bee.

It is a practice that is now known to be particularly effective at calming the sympathetic nervous system (so-called “fight or flight” system), and to stimulating the so-called “rest and digest” part of the automatic nervous system.

The benefit for you is that it helps reduce stress, anger, anxiety, and blood pressure. It is great for improving sleep.

How mudra’s help

When it is practised with sanmukhi mudra (closing of the senses) it is even more soothing.

It results in deep relaxation and changes in brain wave patterns that place you into a deep meditative state.

No wonder it seems like time slips by when you practice this pranayama.

Again, the best way to prove it to yourself.

More mindful eating is one of the many benefits of pranayama breath meditation, as I outline in this Shorts video.

To see more, click on Shorts, & read my description via the 3 dots at the top right of the video (once you go to YouTube Shorts).

Get started with pranayama online training, or in-studio if you’re in Darwin NT

Breath meditation video course, & 10 FREE pranayama classes. See more.

Alternate nostril breath meditation

Western science has only recently understood that we all tend to be more dominant on one nostril or the other . And these sides of the nostril fluctuate every hour and a half.

Yogis have known for a very long time how to move energy into the right nostril and into the left nostril. They have exploited this knowledge to develop a number of techniques that have very different effects on our physiology.

The right nostril is the heating nostril. When you practice Surya Bhedana Digital pranayama, by breathing in through the right, and exhaling through the left, then this process increases body heat and digestive power. It also soothes and invigorates the nerves.

If you were to do the opposite (Chandra Bhedana) – breath in through the left nostril and out through the right, you will discover a very different effect, because it cools  and soothes the nervous system.

The yogi’s knowledge of how to balance the right and left nostril led to a practice called Nadi Shodhana, or alternate nostril breathing. This is a practice that cleans the channels of energy on the right and left side of the spinal column, and enhances the right and left hemispheres of the brain.

The practice allows energy to flow freely up through the central channel that follows the spinal column. Each time I practice Nadi Shodhana I leave the practice feeling so calm, and content.

Essentially the practice allows for both purification (unblocking energy), and balancing (hot-right nostril and cold-left nostril) energies so that neither nostril is dominant.

I suggest you try nadi shodhana with our short video course deal. But, if you wish, another option is to read my post that is focussed entirely on nadi shodhana.

Ujjayi breath meditation

This type of breath meditation is one of the principal pranayamas, and the first pranayama that most learn when starting to practice pranayama.

Ujjayi means upward and expanding like the breath of a conqueror.

It is where the lungs are fully expanded.  It is also called ocean breath because in this practice, as air is drawn from throat to chest, it makes a noise sounding like the ocean.

The inhalation breath starts in the belly to lower abdomen, and moves up the spinal column. Then the exhalation returns back to the lower abdomen.

In this practice the wandering mind is brought under control as you learn to tune into the sound and regulate the length of the inhalation and exhalation.

When you are a beginner your mind tends to wander, and you lose the rhythm. With practice, the sound and rhythm take the mind into a place of deep single pointed focus where it feels as if time has vanished.

Again, I suggest the best way to appreciate the power and benefits of ujjayi is to try it with my short video course on breath meditation. You’ll be introduced to the four main styles of pranayama that I have discussed in this Post.

However, if you want more on this breath meditation technique, I’ve written another more detailed post about ujjayi breathing.

Breath meditation video course, & 10 FREE pranayama classes. See more.

Try Flametree’s regular Pranayama classes, online or in-studio

Each week, Flametree has pranayama or breath meditation classes at these times: Tuesday 6.30 AM; & Thursday 6.30 AM.

On the Flametree timetable, you can see these classes in your own time zone.

Classes are taught by Flametree’s Senior Teacher and founder, Christine Lalor.

Flametree pranayama classes are both online and in-studio. Pranayama works especially well online, and many of our students do it that way.

If you want, learn more about Flametree Yoga, or about its teachers.

Experience breath meditation pranayama classes online & in-studio

I suggest there’s no need to look further for “pranayama yoga classes near me”. The best way to learn more, or see what you think, is to try our pranayama course or classes.

If you’re a total beginner at yoga, you first need to build some more strength and lung capacity. I find you need a minimum of 3 months of beginner yoga first.

To start yoga, try Flametree’s HALF price beginner yoga 10 pack, with 2 FREE classes included. 

If you’ve done yoga, you can proceed immediately with the ten free pranayama classes. 

If you’re new to Flametree, and want to start yoga with us, or are lapsed from Flametree, then you can get 30 days of unlimited non-beginner yoga for $AUD79. This deal can include up to 2 pranayama classes a week, plus many yoga classes, at various levels.

Best “pranayama yoga classes near me” you’ll find

Pranayama online training videos, & 10 FREE pranayama classes online or in-studio. See more.